Is legal operations the bridge to break down legal silos

"Break down the silo." It's a saying that gets tossed around frequently in in-house legal circles, with countless conjectures on how to actually do it. Bobbie Travis, Senior Operations Project Manager, Legal Global Affairs at Splunk, believes tech and human skills are the answer. Specifically developing holistic tech environments.

Contrary to many people's opinions, Travis believes lawyers aren't laggards when it comes to tech. "I believe lawyers embrace and thrive on technology because they are looking for ways to build infrastructure and scale their work contributions to support the greater needs of the business."

She notes that counsel are constantly fighting to prove their value, and tech plays a pivotal role in capturing data that not only proves the critical impact they are having but allows for more informed legal decisions to be made.

Travis says what's holding counsel back from having success with tech is their emotional approach to using it. "It's been my experience that in-house lawyers who adapt to the organizational culture within the ecosystem they operate in prove to be more approachable and vulnerable to their colleagues."

Organizational culture and tech are intrinsic in agile, modern businesses. Hybrid work situations, the reliance on software such as Zoom and Slack for collaboration, the use of CRMs and cloud software computing create a symbiotic relationship between tech and daily work life.

Legal functions and technology should have the same relationship, using an efficient legal workspace for daily matters. Albeit there are still functions yet to catch up to this new norm, but soon using email as a form of workflow management will be a relic.

The crux of the issue here is the perception many counsel have when adopting legal tech. They see it as a magic solution to break down their legal silo. It's not.

Yes, legal tech gives functions the ability to break down their silo through efficient processes, analyzing data, and better intake and review systems. But it can't build relationships and communicate with the wider business in the way a human would.

"Breaking down silos at work includes evaluating the cross-functional work that lawyers do to support sales, marketing, human resources, customer success, and all other business practice groups," says Travis. To achieve this requires the very human skills of communication and collaboration.

Travis' theory for creating thriving legal departments focuses on the interplay between using technology and being human. "Lawyers have grown to understand the importance of collaborating with others on the same technological platforms; sharing stories of recent or past experiences opens a door for growth and builds a solid foundation for presenting who you are to others."

Being human and dropping the lawyer persona allows people to bring their authentic selves to work. Travis is a firm believer that people appreciate collaborating with colleagues who are true to themselves and the values they uphold.

In a sense, the field of legal operations is the culmination of legal tech and communication, and Travis says tech is maturing. "Solutions for in-house legal departments were often solved with a linear frame of mind to prioritize the initial needs of the legal department. This is partly due to mitigating data privacy, security and compliance issues."

The growing ideology of legal operations favors a more holistic approach to legal tech solutions. Travis says through collaboration across business units and harnessing insights "legal ops works more strategically to bridge communication gaps and identify opportunities for improvement in collaborating amongst business practice groups".

In essence, lawyers can handle tech. In fact, they have proved they can embrace it. And when they pair it with a willingness to connect, share and collaborate, the legal silo will finally fall.